Written by: Sister Susan Maloney, SNJM
June 15, 2013
At Forty Acres, we Nuns on the Bus stopped to
pray and honor all migrants who worked in this country. As we stood in the
circle of prayer Sister Simone asked each Sister and NOTB friends who were
present to share a Scripture passage. We spoke from our hearts for the need to
honor all those who do the hard back-breaking work of bringing food to the
tables of American families. We thanked God for the courageous women and men
working for justice on behalf of immigrants.
Forty Acres served as the headquarters for
the first permanent agricultural labor union in the United
States, the United Farmworkers of America. Forty
Acres holds extraordinary national significance for its close association with
the career of Cesar Chavez, the farmworker movement, and a wide range of reform
movements that helped define twentieth-century American history, and in
particular, the Chicano Movement.
The UFW was established for the purpose of
bringing about improved working conditions for migrant workers. The union’s
members are responsible for the passage of the first law in the United
States that recognized the collective bargaining
rights of farmworkers, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975.
www.nps.gov/history
As we boarded the bus, we carried in our hearts all those who yearn for
justice and work for the dignity of all immigrants.
